Mechanical and Moisture Absorption Behaviour of Alkali Treated Sida Acuta Composite

The present work is investigated to evaluate the mechanical and moisture absorption behaviour of alkali treated sida acuta reinforced epoxy composite. The composite panels with 30 ± 1 wt% of fibre having 0°/90° and ± 45° fibre fabric orientation have been fabricated using hand lay-up method separately as per the test standard. The test results revealed that the mechanical properties of treated sida acuta composite having 0°/90° fibre orientation exhibit better mechanical properties in contrast to ± 45° fibre orientation composite. Also, the percentage of moisture absorption and absorption coefficient of treated sida acuta fibre composite with different fibre orientation possess similar values. The diffusion coefficient and permeability coefficient of the composite with ± 45° fibre orientation are 1.096 × 10 –3 mm 2 /s and 1.152 × 10 –3 mm 2 /s, respectively, and the corresponding values are decreased by 33.50% compared to 0°/90° fibre orientation composite due to more swelling of fibres in the composite. This work provided the technical information about the naturally available surface treated sida acuta fibres in fibre reinforced polymer composites used for various applications.